From Italy to England

The Italian immigrants who settled in Manchester's Ancoats area came
fron most regions of Italy. However the majority came from towns and villages
which at the time were in the province of Caserta, Campania. After a boundary
change early last century many of these towns became part of the province
of Frosinone, Lazio. Originally the early immigrants who came from Campania
and Lazio to Ancoats were known as 'Neapolitans' (Naples being in Campania).
Those from Frosinone (located south of Rome and north of Naples) were
known as 'Ciociaria'.

My great grandparents, Carlo and Caralina Tiani (nee Fusco) settled
in Manchester at the end of the 1870s from the village of Settefratti,
Frosinone. This is a surviving part of their Italian passport from
1889.

Manchester, in the early 19th century was at the heart of the Industrial
Revolution in Britain, and attractive to emigrants. Italians who came
often stayed temporarily for seasonal work. Those who stayed longer would
send for family members if they started their own businesses, leading
to 'chain migration'.

There is a popular myth that all Italians who emigrated from Italy were
ice-cream makers. Not so. The majority were 'contadini', or farming people,
along with barometer makers, figurine makers, musicians, craftsmen of
marble and mosaics, and other artisans. None originally made ice cream
in Italy.

Just as Italy itself was split before 1860, strong regional differences
persisted in the immigrant community. Northern Italians would look down
on those from the South (the idea of a North / South divide is far greater
in Italy even today than in Britain). Regional cliques formed in Ancoats,
often with intense rivalry. It wasn't until the integration of opposing
families inter-marrying that these animosities declined.

The first generation were also not happy at the thought of their children
marrying into the local English and Irish communities. As with all immigrants,
there is a fear of losing one's cultural identity.